By
Jean Wagemans (contents author)
Summary
Recently, participatory governance models in cultural heritage have been gaining importance, both in its selection and its management (Cortés-Vázquez et al. 2017). There are proposals for substituting the centralized and expert-based paradigm by a citizen engagement approach (Dries et al. 2015) where civil actors play a predominant role. However, its implementation has received several criticisms, such as being purely “cosmetic” (Bendix et al. 2012) or a new form of centralised control (González-Ruibal 2014). This leads us to argue that the efficiency and effectiveness of participatory governance models can be improved by developing analytical models that enable a more fine-grained and robust understanding of the dynamics of the debates.We propose a framework for analysing this type of debates grounded in three pillars: i) the reconstruction of the argument structure for each of the positions; ii) the identification of the types of statements (Wagemans 2016); and iii) the classification of disagreements according to the shared conceptual model between the parts (Gonzalez-Perez 2018).We illustrate the basic characteristics and merits of our approach by means of a pilot study based on the debate between two experts about the Cave of Altamira (Norther Spain), an important and much debated specimen of cultural heritage. After having identified the standpoints put forward by the participants, we classify them in terms of statements of fact, value or policy in order to frame the general discussion. We then reconstruct the argumentation structure, which shows the reasoning path of each position. As a result, on the conceptual model underlying each participant, we are able to identify both the main disagreements between the competing positions and to chart the concrete and specific measures that might address those issues. Thus, our conceptual model helps to improve the quality of the decision-making process as well as the implementation of participatory governance.
Keywords
Debate. Citizen Participation. Cultural Heritage.